83R11915 JJT-F

By: Rodriguez S.B. No. 1453

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to rates charged and credits granted by certain electric utilities to retail customers with on-site solar generation capacity.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Chapter 36, Utilities Code, is amended by adding Subchapter F to read as follows:

SUBCHAPTER F. RATES AND CREDITS FOR CERTAIN CUSTOMERS

WITH SOLAR GENERATION CAPACITY

Sec. 36.251. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:

(1) "Customer with solar generation capacity" means a retail customer who has solar electric generation capacity installed on the customer's side of the meter.

(2) "Utility" means a municipally owned utility, electric cooperative, or investor-owned vertically integrated utility that provides electric service to a retail customer and does not participate in customer choice.

Sec. 36.252. VALUE-OF-SOLAR-GENERATION RATES AND CREDITS AUTHORIZED. Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, a utility may elect to charge the utility's customers who have solar generation capacity according to a rate and credit mechanism as provided by this subchapter, and a regulatory authority shall provide a mechanism for approving a tariff for a utility that elects to provide for charges and credits in accordance with this subchapter.

Sec. 36.253. VALUE-OF-SOLAR-GENERATION RATES AND CREDIT MECHANISM. (a) A utility that elects to employ the mechanism authorized by Section 36.252 may provide for a customer with solar generation capacity to have metered:

(1) all electricity consumed by the customer regardless of whether the electricity is delivered to the customer by the utility or is generated on-site by the customer's solar generation capacity; and

(2) all electricity generated on-site by the customer's solar generation capacity and consumed on-site or delivered to the distribution grid.

(b) For each billing period, the utility may charge a customer with solar generation capacity the same rates the utility charges the utility's other retail customers of the same class for all electricity consumed during that billing period, regardless of whether the electricity is delivered to the customer by the utility or is generated on-site by the customer's solar generation capacity.

(c) For each billing period, the utility shall grant a credit to a customer with solar generation capacity for the electricity generated on-site by the customer's solar generation capacity and consumed by the customer or delivered to the distribution grid according to the value-of-solar-generation rate computed under Section 36.254.

(d) Except as provided by Subsection (e), to the extent a credit granted to a customer for a billing period as provided by Subsection (c) exceeds charges described by Subsection (b) for electricity consumed by the customer during that billing period, the utility must provide for the credit to carry forward as a credit against charges for electricity consumed for subsequent billing periods.

(e) The utility may provide for a credit granted as provided by Subsection (c) to expire at the end of the last billing period that ends before December 31 of the calendar year in which the credit is granted.

Sec. 36.254. COMPUTATION OF VALUE-OF-SOLAR-GENERATION RATE. (a) Annually, or at the time the utility makes adjustments in its fuel factor for ratemaking purposes, a utility that elects to employ the mechanism provided by Section 36.253 must compute a value-of-solar-generation rate in accordance with this section and, if applicable, in accordance with rules of the regulatory authority. The computed rate must represent the reasonably approximate value to the utility per unit of solar energy generated in the distribution grid at or near the point of consumption so that the price is equal to what the utility would charge to provide the energy considering equivalent costs, equivalent cost savings, and other reasonably quantifiable benefits at the same point in the distribution system.

(b) In determining the rate under Subsection (a), the utility shall consider at least the following factors:

(1) the rate charged on delivery for solar energy generated in the distribution grid;

(2) any avoided costs of purchased power, generation, generating capacity, transmission and distribution capacity, and transmission and distribution losses that otherwise would be necessary to provide electricity equivalent to the solar-generated electricity;

(3) the environmental value of the on-site solar generation as compared to other generation by the utility's generating facilities, including considerations of fuel waste disposal costs, air pollution control costs, and any premium charged for customers who choose a rate option for environmentally friendly electric service products; and

(4) the net long-term resource value, represented by the present value of a 30-year stream of distributed solar generation to:

(A) the utility;

(B) the utility's customers; and

(C) the community at large, to the extent that value may be reasonably and conservatively quantifiable after consideration of:

(i) avoided external costs such as reduced health care costs; and

(ii) non-price benefits such as improved comfort and improved aesthetics.

Sec. 36.255. RECOVERY OF SPECIAL COSTS. (a) Subject to applicable rules of a regulatory authority, a utility that elects to employ the mechanism provided by Section 36.253 may provide for a mechanism to recover from a customer with solar generation capacity special costs the utility incurs for equipment, metering, or billing necessary to accommodate the customer's on-site generation.

(b) To the extent credits granted under Section 36.253(c) create a loss of revenue to the utility, and subject to applicable rules of a regulatory authority, the utility may provide for a cost recovery adjustment as necessary to cover incremental losses.

SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.